Will the tyranny of Robert Parker’s 100-point system prevail?

THE WORKING POUR

In December, Robert Parker, the 65-year-old lawyer-cum-wine-scoring demigod, sold a substantial portion of his bi-weekly newsletter, The Wine Advocate, to a group of investors in Singapore. And, a mere month after telling the Wall Street Journal that he would never give up editorial control, he bequeathed his editor-in-chief title to Singapore-based, former Australian wine correspondent Lisa Perrotti-Brown. Parker will retain the title of chairman and continue reviewing the Bordeaux and Rhône wines of which he’s so partial. Questions remain as to whether Parker’s shift is a savvy business move cloaked as semi-retirement, but one thing’s for sure: the wine writing campus has gotten a whole lot roomier without the big man on it.

In the 34 years that Parker’s Maryland-based consumer wine guide grew from a free rag mailed to 600 Americans to a paid subscription distributed to 50,000 people across the U.S. and 37 countries worldwide, he scored countless wines with his million-dollar sniffer. Using a 100-point scoring scale, Parker made both extraordinary (96-100 points) and unacceptable (50-59 points) pupils out of a beverage that’s main purpose is pleasure.

Of course, in America, the land of 35 brands of toothpaste, we treated these scores as our guiding gospel and bought what papa preached. Parker’s influence grew to caricatural proportions, his blessings driving up prices and demand so much that this “advocate” for consumers became an enemy to anyone without bottomless pockets.

Those producers willing to extract and chapitalize (see Winespeak 101) their way to the top began tailoring their wines to suit a palate that, by the very nature of being inundated with hundreds of wines a day, came to favor high-octane fruit bombs over balanced, elegant examples. This homogenizing trend even got a name, The Parker Effect, and Bordeaux producers started waiting for Parker’s ratings before setting the release price of their wines.

However, with the reins now in different hands and a different land (which, by no accident, is the most rapidly developing economic region in the world), will wine scores continue to find their way onto retailer’s shelf-talkers? Even though several other publications adopted the use of scoring (Wine Spectator, Jancis Robinson, and Gambero Rosso among them), the practice has been falling out of favor thanks in large part to a movement toward more unique, terroir-driven wines. Two years ago, lovers of these minimalist wines, which are made to embrace the variabilities of nature rather than to ameliorate them, created an online manifesto called the Score Revolution (scorevolution.com). Illustrated by a 100 with a red line through it, their M.O. is “saving place of origin with elegance.” Though the group has yet to stage an actual revolution, they did manage to collect the signatures of 754 individuals and the support of 155 wineries and organizations, one of which is Charlottesville’s own Market Street Wineshop.

Other shops around town, like Wine Warehouse and Rio Hill Wine & Gourmet, use scores, albeit sparingly, to speak to consumers who don’t always trust their own palates.

Yet, in Bill Curtis’ 22 years since opening Tastings of Charlottesville, he’s never relied on scores to sell wine. Rather, he tastes every wine before he buys it and asks his customers 20 questions in order to learn their tastes. “My mantra from the beginning has been to put the customer in better touch with his or her palate,” said Curtis.

Accusations of score inflation have plagued Parker ever since he awarded perfect scores to a whopping 19 Bordeaux from the 2009 vintage. (In contrast, he only gave six wines 100 points in the equally hyped 2000 vintage.) And in the one spit that he expels before deeming these wines flawless and, according to his scoring system, “worth a special effort to find, purchase, and consume,” their prices triple overnight.

But even if Bordeaux and the Rhône continue to fall under his dictatorship, the rest of the wine world may soon be restored to democracy—and perfection will go back to being rightfully unattainable.

Virginia wine takes flight
The numbers for fiscal year 2012 reveal that sales of Virginia wine have topped last year’s high by 1.6 percent, or an additional 8,000 cases, bringing the total cases sold in 2012 to 485,000. Perhaps more newsworthy though is that the export sales of Virginia wine grew from about 700 cases in 2011 to more than 3,300 in 2012—a more than 300 percent increase. Driving the majority of these exports are China and the UK, both regions upon which Governor McDonnell has focused, and the latter of which Chris Parker (a Brit who’s lived here for 20 years) has devoted his time introducing to our wines.

WINESPEAK 101Chapitalization (n.): The controversial practice of adding sugar to wine to increase its alcohol content, and therefore, boost its body.

“How often should I bathe my cat?” I’m asked with surprising frequency. It’s a perfectly valid question, but anybody who’s ever bathed a cat will understand that it usually answers itself the moment you dare to try. I remember my first job at a veterinary hospital in high school. My inaugural

It looks a lot like a spa or massage parlor upon first glance. Relaxing is something I’m not especially skilled at unless a beach-side bar is involved, but when I entered the AquaFloat lobby with its soft, aquamarine-and-sand-colored decor, sounds of nature playing in the background and

Caturra’s meow What started out as a Richmond coffee shop in 2006 has since evolved into a full-service restaurant with a new location on the Corner. Café Caturra, a coffee shop-restaurant-bar combo that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner is officially open for business in the old Toro’s Tacos

Thousands of visitors come to Virginia every year to tour the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive. As they soak in the natural beauty where the two meet off Interstate 64 at Rockfish Gap, with views stretching out across the Shenandoah Valley, they soak in something else less appealing,

It’s been a big year for Keswick Hall, and it’s only February. Within weeks, the inn announced its five-star rating from Forbes Travel Guide, and also welcomed a new executive chef to Fossett’s Restaurant. “The hard work really starts now, in keeping it,” marketing director Janet Kurtz said of

Feast mode Feast! on West Main had its most profitable year ever in 2014, and the specialty foods market and cafe is looking to keep its momentum in 2015, recently announcing a high-profile hire and new weekly sandwich concept. Co-owner Eric Gertner said Feast! has grown every year since

Sultan Kebab isn’t new. Deniz Dikmen and Serhat Peker, both natives of Turkey, opened the restaurant tucked away in a small shopping center at the corner of Route 29 and Rio Road in 2012. But if you’re like me and don’t often schlep up to that side of town, it’s easy to miss. But partially […]

Valentine’s day’s a real bitch. Whether you’re coupled or single, the holiday is an annual emotional landmine that can send you to the dog house or into a shame spiral so deep that even a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Salted Caramel Core ice cream can’t pull you from it. Fortunately for you, we’ve

Opah! What’s the difference between cooking for royalty and cooking for the masses? According to Paul Boukourakis, not much. In addition to opening restaurants on three different continents, the 77-year-old native of Greece cooked for the royal family before arriving in Charlottesville and

In Charlottesville, a meal at Petit Pois is as close as it gets to eating in France. My dinner companion told me so. And, he should know. Jose de Brito, acclaimed chef at The Alley Light, was raised in France and his passion for French cuisine can produce strong views on the subject. What is

‘Wild ideas’ Faced with a terminal illness, most people might hunker down for months of treatment and forgo future plans. Not Mark Weber. Last summer, in the middle of an intensive treatment regimen for a malignant brain tumor, Weber bought Woolly Mammoth, the two-story restaurant at the corner

As you age, maintaining your health becomes more and more like a game of Whac-A-Mole: Exit the footloose and fancy-free 20s and suddenly you’re worried about your reproductive health and abnormal sleep patterns. Get past menopause and then it’s time to concentrate on the threat of high blood

Life was so simple when there was only one beer festival. Top of the Hops descended on the Pavilion in the fall, you put on your pretzel necklace and tried a bunch of good craft beer you’d never had before. Your liver had 364 days to recover. Then came Know Good Beer (KGB), first held […]

Sweet and savory We’re about to get a new pie shop on the Downtown Mall. And in true Charlottesville fashion, for the academic-turned-pastry-chef behind The Pie Chest, it was a circuitous path that led her here. The ever-changing food scene in this island-of-misfit-toys of a town seems to bring

Got a new store It hasn’t been a good stretch for frozen yogurt joints. First Cups in the Barracks Road shopping center went tits up, now Berry Berry on the Corner is getting a makeover. Fortunately the demise of Berry Berry comes with very very good news. The place turns out to be owned by

Ryan Hubbard and Mark Marshall aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel. The two guys behind Red Hub Food Co., a catering service that recently opened a lunch counter at its 202 10th Street NW location, are serving up classic North Carolina-style barbecue, plain and simple. For them it’s not about

Hello, Lampo For a pizza place that turns out pies in a matter of minutes, we sure had to wait a long time for Lampo, the real deal Neapolitan joint that opened on Monticello Road last month. Loren Mendosa, Ian Redshaw, Mitchell Beerens and Andrew Cole promised a fall opening, and the fellas

Sure, we’ve got Coke versus Pepsi, Yankees versus Red Sox, and Apple versus Android. But do any of these really hold a candle to the age-old rivalry between cats and dogs? If their depiction in pop culture is any indication, they’ve been squaring off since the dawn of time. I’m always a bit

Look, we get it. Cracking open that 2015 calendar gives rise to all manner of inspiration—get fit for bathing suit season! Read more books to shine in idle party chit-chat! Bone up on your ballroom skills before your cousin’s autumn wedding! Then suddenly it’s February and, not only have your